2012
May
April
March
Febuary
January
2011
2010
2009
2008

Jeff Higley
Editorial Director


Patrick Mayock
News Editor-International


Jan Freitag
Senior VP, Global Development, STR


Shawn A. Turner
Finance Editor


Jason Q. Freed
News Editor-Americas



Samantha Worgull
Editorial Assistant


David Grossniklaus
STR Global Writer & Analyst


The Lobby a social network from HotelNewsNow.com
Shawn A. Turner
Finance Editor

Shawn@HotelNewsNow.com

Thursday, 17 May 2012

Opposing vibes at hotel lending conferences
Posted by Shawn A. Turner at 6:58 AM

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending a pair of U.S. hotel lending conferences—one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. While the content was similar, the prevailing mood in the conference’s hallways seemed vastly different.

I began in Boston at the Hotel Equity and Lender Perspectives conference. This was the first year for the HELP event and as you might imagine from a rookie conference the vibe from attendees was an optimistic one.

... Read More
0 comments

Thursday, 15 March 2012

Hotel demand not impacted by oil price hikes
Posted by Shawn A. Turner at 7:03 AM

Pulling up to the gas pump, I was already doing the math in my head. OK, $3.89 a gallon, times a 12-gallon tank equals no discretionary driving this weekend …

I also couldn’t help but think I’m not the only consumer cutting out trips as gas prices creep ever higher (perhaps as high as $5 or $6 a gallon by summer, according to CNBC.) So with that thought in mind, I reached out to hotel industry data experts for their take on what effect rising fuel costs might have on hotel demand. 

... Read More
0 comments

Monday, 05 March 2012

Hotels seeing stock prices jump
Posted by Shawn A. Turner at 9:17 AM

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently elbowed its way past the 13,000 barrier, and hotel stocks are going along for the ride.

As evidenced by a surging Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index, industry stock prices are on the rise. The Hotel Stock Index closed 28 February at 2284.71, up nearly 49% since closing at 1535.26 on 3 October 2011.

... Read More
0 comments

Thursday, 02 February 2012

‘Think for yourself’ when forecasting
Posted by Shawn A. Turner at 7:07 AM

I got a call recently from a C-suite executive who wanted nothing more than to blow off a little steam following an internal hotel sector forecast meeting.

During the meeting, the executive questioned how the team generated some of the forecast data that was presented. The team responded. They were using forecast data from the industry’s research companies.

... Read More
0 comments

Thursday, 05 January 2012

REITs not ‘bullied’ over stock price drops
Posted by Shawn A. Turner at 8:11 AM

The stock market wasn’t kind to U.S. public real-estate investment trusts in 2011.

REITs saw across-the-board declines in their stock prices, with most of the drops spurred by capital market upheaval that began in early August.

... Read More
1 comments

Thursday, 01 December 2011

Hotel execs duke it out in Vegas
Posted by Shawn A. Turner at 6:31 AM

The Latino Hotel Association gave me the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream.

While covering the association’s 2011 International Conference & Expo in Las Vegas last month, I was asked to serve as one of three judges for the LHA’s “Battle of the Brands” charity boxing event that raises money for a Latino college fund, as well as job training programs for Latinos in the hospitality industry.

... Read More
2 comments
1234567